00:01WEI Afternoons here on a Thursday.
00:04Dan Baldwin, Fitzie Stephenson, Ted Johnson, and a goal!
00:08To end the second period, boys are buzzing here for the United States.
00:15Brock Nelson on a beauty!
00:18Just a little quick tic-tac goal.
00:20I know they got guys on different teams putting their lines together,
00:25figuring out the chemistry on the fly didn't matter on that one.
00:28That was dirty.
00:29So we're in the second intermission right now with the United States in the lead.
00:33And that is the soundtrack by which we welcome on our good friend, Andrew Raycroft.
00:38Andrew Razor, Raycroft, brought to you by John Sewer Drain Cleaning,
00:41the name to know when your drains don't flow by findmassmoney.gov
00:44and by Shawson Star Market, proud to be local since 1860.
00:49Razor, how are you, sir?
00:51Wonderful. How are we doing, gentlemen?
00:53We're good. We're good.
00:54We're enjoying some of this action,
00:56but I can only imagine it pales in comparison to how much you are enjoying what's going on right now.
01:01Just give us the temperature of the hockey world right now as you finally have NHL players back in the
01:07Olympics.
01:08Well, everyone's excited.
01:10Everyone's really looking forward to today and seeing, of course, the marquee matchup.
01:14It started yesterday, but of course, everyone wanted to see the real big boys go at it
01:19with Canada and USA starting off today.
01:23And by all accounts, they're living up to expectations.
01:28So at this point, Razor, like you're still fully committed to the idea that we're headed for a collision course,
01:35that we're going to run back the rematch of the Four Nations last year,
01:39but now even greater stakes and a gold medal on the line.
01:44So to be honest, I was, yesterday and leading up to this, I was like, you know what?
01:50I feel like there'll be something happen.
01:53I think with the extra teams, it adds into the more of the randomness that could happen,
01:59one-off quarterfinals.
02:01But now watching both of the, like watching Canada, especially this morning, today.
02:06So I'm in Quebec City, by the way, guys, right now.
02:08So my kid had a, they're in the big peewee tournament.
02:10So I just, I haven't watched U.S. that much right now.
02:13I'm just kind of catching it as I walk by.
02:15But watch Canada this morning, and I have changed my mind very quickly over the last hour and a half
02:20that I don't know how either one of these teams loses.
02:24They're absolute juggernauts.
02:26I mean, Canada, Canada was toying with Czechia, and that's with David Pasternak.
02:30I mean, it's, they're a lot better.
02:33Like, there's going to have to be some real randomness now for them,
02:37for us not to see the epic gold medal matchup.
02:39I mean, Razor, is there, is there, I don't know, a dark horse, a team that just, you know,
02:45you shouldn't fall asleep on.
02:46I know you're confident in those two teams, obviously.
02:49But is there another team that you think, if not maybe competing with the U.S. and Canada,
02:54that'll get the bronze?
02:58Well, Sweden's easy to pick.
03:00Finland's easy.
03:00But again, I go to the randomness of a Slovakia that's hard to play against.
03:05If Germany's beating Denmark, that's, but they're, but they have guys that can score.
03:10Leon Dreifeld is the third best player on the planet, and he's with Germany.
03:13So, Grubauer's been very good for Germany.
03:16So, I, like, out of nowhere, I think it could be a Slovakia or a Germany that goes on a
03:21run,
03:21and maybe they don't punch out Canada or the U.S., but they get to the semifinals,
03:26and then could knock off a Sweden or Finland in that bronze medal game.
03:30So, I, again, I'll, so I guess my tune's changed a little bit on the gold medal,
03:35but I still think there'll be randomness in a team we didn't really see winning a bronze medal.
03:40Andrew Raycroft with us here on WEI Afternoons.
03:44Razor, what does this tournament and this opportunity mean to a player like Charlie McAvoy?
03:48Top pair on Team USA.
03:50He's wearing a letter for the group during the tournament, especially given the injuries he's had,
03:55the way he ended up leaving the Four Nations face-off.
03:58What does this kind of opportunity mean for the player and the continuing of his growth
04:02into, hopefully, a superstar in the league?
04:05Well, it means everything.
04:06It really does.
04:07It means everything.
04:08And that's why the players have pushed and have pushed so hard to get themselves in this tournament.
04:15The NHL really doesn't want this to happen.
04:18The players collectively bargained.
04:20They gave something on the other side to be able to play in this.
04:23And what it does for a Charlie McAvoy, you know, as an example,
04:28think about what happens if he becomes a gold medal champion.
04:33He becomes Mike Ruzzioni, right?
04:35Like, he literally never pays for a meal the rest of his life for these guys in Team USA.
04:39They get to be together in 30 years.
04:41There's another Netflix documentary about him.
04:45It'll never be the same as 80, but it really means everything to these players,
04:49whether they're in Canada or whether they're playing for Team USA or any other country,
04:54but we'll focus in on these two teams.
04:56You become a gold medalist.
04:59You are extra special in your country.
05:03Patrice Bergeron, you talked to Bergey, and him winning a gold medal isn't the Stanley Cup,
05:10but when he comes back to Canada, he's Mr. Canada.
05:14When he's in Boston, he's Mr. Bruin.
05:16When he's in Canada, he's Mr. Canada.
05:18And that's kind of what Charlie McAvoy could be.
05:22He could be Mr. Team USA when he goes to L.A. next year if he wins a gold medal.
05:27So it really does mean a lot for all of these guys.
05:31Razor, we were talking earlier about the job that Mike Vrabel did.
05:35I'm only crossing over into the football lane for a second here,
05:37but we were talking about the incredible job Mike Vrabel did for the Patriots this year,
05:41putting on the coaching masterclass he did,
05:44getting a team that was certainly not, didn't seem like they were on paper,
05:48a Super Bowl team, all the way to the big game.
05:51And I was curious on that notion now, switching over to the Bruins,
05:55so far, what your assessment at the break of Sturm's coaching job
06:00and what kind of grade you would give him up to this point?
06:04I would have to give him a similar grade as what Vrabel gets.
06:08And the reason why, the big reason why, and I've talked about it on your guys' show before,
06:12is just his discipline in the first month of the season.
06:16They win three games, everything's great, and then they lose six.
06:18And a few of them are really ugly.
06:20Like, you guys know I'm as positive as it gets.
06:24I don't get too high and too low in the season.
06:27I just know how hard it is as an NHL player.
06:30But one of those games in that six, I'm watching this team thinking,
06:34I'm going to have the longest five months trying to be happy and positive
06:38and explain how bad this team is.
06:41There was a couple of periods where I was thinking,
06:43they're not figuring this out, and this is going to be an absolute disaster.
06:46And to Marco's credit, he stuck with it and said,
06:51this is how this is going to go.
06:52This is how we have to play.
06:54This is how I think we need to play.
06:56And he got through those moments.
06:58The same thing at the Christmas break, where you could have said,
07:00oh, they're losing it again like they did last season.
07:03And they pulled themselves out and had an unbelievable January.
07:06So when you cross-reference that kind of attitude that Mike Rabel has
07:10from 30,000 feet from my point of view, I don't follow it like you guys do,
07:14but it felt like Mike Rabel is very confident,
07:18and he has a lot of conviction in what he's doing.
07:21Sturmy's done it maybe not as confidently,
07:23but in the same conviction that this is how we're going to play,
07:27this is how I want my team to play, and you guys are going to believe in it.
07:30Yeah, Razor, I'm thinking you were maybe a little bit sweating it there.
07:33You know, they start off 3-0, and then they lose the next six,
07:36and people are saying they should tank.
07:38And there was talk of tanks.
07:40We were promoting watching Penn State hockey for Gavin McKenna.
07:45I'm so glad I'm not doing that, guys.
07:47I can't explain to you that I am so glad I don't have to talk about draft picks
07:52for the next three months.
07:53It's so exciting.
07:54I hear you, bro.
07:55I hear you.
07:55Hey, just what's been the biggest surprise, Razor, for you?
07:58Like, you didn't see it coming, and then this player or whatever it is
08:03that you just have been most pleasantly surprised seeing from the Bruins this year?
08:09By far, it's the power play, which coincides with them scoring goals.
08:13I never in a million years thought that the power play would be top five in the NHL.
08:19And Steve Spott, they brought Steve Spott in, an unbelievable hockey mind
08:24who's played on a bunch of winning teams.
08:26He coached against me in junior.
08:28He's been around forever and just a great person.
08:30I didn't know the impact that he was going to have on the power play.
08:34And the fact that their power play is in the top five
08:38and with what we thought would be limited offense
08:41has been absolutely incredible to me.
08:44And that is by far, for me, the biggest surprise.
08:48I thought Jeremy Swayman would have a bounce back.
08:50I knew David Pasternak would be David Pasternak.
08:53I thought the D would be good with McAvoy and Lindholm being healthy.
08:56Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this power play
08:59would be top ten, let alone top five all year.
09:01All right, Razor, before we let you go, no game to pick,
09:04even though you've kind of been on a heater picking Bruins games recently.
09:07So credit for credit to you.
09:09If only these two games had have been a little later,
09:12because I would have hammered Canada at 5-0,
09:14and I would have said Team USA 8-1, which will end up being probably.
09:19Okay, I take your word for that on that one.
09:21But give us a quick pick, gold, silver, bronze.
09:24How does everybody place?
09:26Oh, man.
09:30I can't go against Canada.
09:32I have to watch it again.
09:33And it is my home country.
09:35That's fair.
09:35Somebody's listening.
09:37So I have to stick there.
09:38So I'll go.
09:39I'm going to go Canada, U.S., and Slovakia.
09:43I'll go off the board there.
09:44Wow, nice.
09:45Okay, you can probably get some good value on that last one there.
09:47Yeah, for sure.
09:49Well, thank you as always for your time.
09:52Enjoy both the family hockey and the Olympic hockey that you're watching this weekend.
09:56And we'll talk to you next week.
09:58Awesome, guys.
09:58Will do.
09:59All right, thanks.
09:59Thank you, Ray.
10:00So that's Andrew Raycroft joining us here on WEI Afternoon.
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